


Until the sound of your voice fades away...

by Mariavc



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Framework Angst, Sadness, The Framework Universe (Marvel), and the story of Skyeward in the framework, but also the ending that we deserved I guess, there's death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-03 07:56:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10962978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mariavc/pseuds/Mariavc
Summary: Back at the Framework, Grant continues to fight as Hydra crumbles down, but he’s loosing hope. Even a free world is not enough for him is Skye is not in it. She changed everything from the moment that she came into his life, and the only thing that he ever wanted was to spend the rest of it with her.Or the complete Framework!Skyeward AU from the moment they met.





	1. …I will forget.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is going to be a 3 chapter story. I just needed proper closure with our Framework Skyeward. I didn't want to write something too long so I decided to split it in three chapters. This is the longest one because I needed to tell the story of how they met and how they fell in love, and still put Grant dealing with the loss of his Skye here.

He comes back. Bloodied, bruised. Victorious.

They freed hundreds of shield agents and Inhumans that can join the fight now. They need as many people as they can if they’re going to take the triskelion. It’s the right moment. Madame Hydra is done, the doctor is going out of control and the people are starting to wake up.

The thing is. He doesn’t know if all of this is worth anything.

It’s selfish. But he can help but think that even a free world wouldn’t mean anything to him without her.

But he can’t give up. He owes Mace. He owes Hand. She died for this.

So Grant tries to ignore it. The fight keeps him busy, and if there’s something that he’s good at it’s fighting.

But at the end of the day he has to come back. He has to see her knowing that she’s not the woman that loves him. He probably still loves her. He would love any version of her.

Maybe that’s wrong but he can’t help it.

There’s a lot of activity in the base as the new recruits keep coming and others rush to help the wounded.

He’s just looking for that familiar face, even if he can just stare at her from the distance. She doesn’t love him but she’s here. That’s better than nothing.

Where is she?

“Have you seen Skye?” He asks all the agents that he meets on the hallway. They clearly have more urgent things to do.

They need to fix this mess, put someone in charge now that Mace is gone.

“Hey man!” Trip appears out of nowhere and pats Grant’s back. “How bad was it?”

“Not that bad” Grant stops and tries to smile “We got everyone out. Some of them are need medical”

Trip’s smile is as bright as it always is “That’s better than expected. I don’t-“

“Where’s Skye?”

His smile fades and Grant just _knows._

“Daisy-“ Grant corrects himself. She was Daisy, not Skye. She only wanted to leave. “She…”

“It’s crazy, man” Trip starts walking and grabs Grant’s arm to go to the nearest empty room. He checks that there’s nobody hearing them “Mack says that they were right. There was a portal, and when they went through it like everything started glitching around them like some messed up matrix shit”

“Mack? He’s here”

“He couldn’t leave his girl”

“And the others?”

“I’m sorry. But she’s fine. She’s where she needs to be”

Grant swallows “I get that. I get it”

“Are you ok?”

Grant just looks down and shakes his head.

Trip doesn’t say anything.

He wasn’t expecting Daisy to stay. It’s just… not fair. He doesn’t feel like he’s any less real than her. His love is not any less real than Mack’s love for his daughter.

 

* * *

 

 3 YEARS BEFORE

 

“Pinsky, just give me coordinates on that signal. I’m gonna take care of it” Grant says, getting out of his SUV “I’m on the south side of the building. There’s just a van”

A really old, blue van.

“Alright” Grant responds to the voice in his ear as he approaches the vehicle.

He’s in the middle of an op, nothing too dangerous. What’s dangerous is the hacker that’s been poking around in their servers. It doesn’t seem to be a big threat, but he doesn’t let details like this slip. That’s what makes him one of the best agents. That’s what he needs to do to survive now that he’s alone again.

He opens the door to find the van empty, just a bunch of cheap equipment and an air mattress, some toiletries… someone lives here?

He hears steps in the back of the alley and immediately starts chasing him. He’s trying to escape.

When he turns around the next corner he sees her. It’s a woman.

“Stop right there, ma’am” An easy target. He shoots his stun gun, hitting her right in the center of her back and she immediately falls, shaking and cursing until she’s unconscious.

She actually put a lot of fight and tried to keep moving… as she cursed some more.

He found it kind of funny.

Grant kneels down and turns her around. She’s… young.

And she’s quite beautiful.

The next step should be taking her to HQ. He picks her up easily and her head just falls against his chest. The smell of her hair catches his attention. It’s something sweet… like coconut?

Where does she even shower if she lives in a van? 

What? He needs to focus.

 

* * *

 

She wakes up with a grunt. Her chest hurts, but more than anything she’s scared. She’s so screwed.

It takes her a moment to realize that she’s not in some creepy cell being tortured. She’s in… her van?

“You’re up”

That startles her. She immediately sits down. There’s a guy sitting there, using her computer.

“You shot me!”

“That I did”

She’s starting to notice how small her van is to fit two people. He’s not exactly small.

He’s not ugly either. She’s seen that face before.

He’s a specialist. She’s back to being screwed.

“What are you doing?”

“Erasing your records. I’m really not that good at this. Can you give me a hand?“

“What!” She jumps out of her air mattress.

Grant almost smiles. She looks kinda pissed. “Look, there are two ways we can do this”

She narrows her eyes at him “Wow... is one of those the easy way?”

“Yeah… the one where I can let you go with a warning and erase all this stuff and you don’t get sent to jail. I say it’s a pretty good deal, ma’am”

“Don’t call me that. I’m not 80” She rolls her eyes, even though she knows that’s not what you should do in front of a Hydra agent, but he just seems amused.

“What’s your name, then?”

“What’s yours?”

“Agent Grant Ward. But you already knew that” He presses one key and a file with his photo appears on her screen.

“It’s just like… general files” she sighs “I don’t read all of them!” but she remembers now. She might have looked at the file before… “Name’s Skye”

“Is that your real name?”

“As real as it gets”

He sighs “Okay. Skye. Do we have a deal?” 

“If you want a deal you want something in return”

“Just stay away from Hydra’s business and don’t get caught again”

“By you?” She smirks at him

“Especially by me”

 

* * *

 

The next time he finds the van he just casually knocks on her door.

She opens with a big smile. “Hey! Agent Ward. What up?”

He gets in and she moves back to make space for him.

“Hey! You can’t just get in here!” She says and Grant looks at her “It’s my house…” she mutters.

“Seriously. We have to get you a better place to live” Grant says as he closes the door.

Now she’s offended “Wow. You can’t just come in here and say that. There’s absolutely no problem with my van. And _we_ don’t have to do anything. I’ve been good. What are you even doing here?”

“Actually. I need your help with something. And I know that that you have not been behaving, like we agreed”

“That’s not-“

Grant raises one finger in front of her “You said it yourself. If I give you a deal I get something in return right?”

He notices how she tenses slightly at that, so he quickly ads “You’re a good hacker and I could use your services. I can pay you”

She relaxes and speaks again “You work in the biggest, most powerful organization that controls the world. Why would you need a freelancer?”

“It’s classified”

Skye scoffs at that “I’m not cheap”

Grant shrugs and smiles at her and she definitely doesn’t feel something flying in her stomach.

 

* * *

 

 

She’s waiting for him, like most Tuesday nights.

He’s the most punctual person that she has ever met.

“How’s the drainage?”

“Working perfectly. My hero” She teases as she lets him in.

“We could find something better, you know?”

Again with the _we._

“This is great. A roof, warm water. Certainly bigger than my van”

Grant smiles. He’s carrying a bag with wings and beer. She can smell it and the sound her stomach makes lets him know that she’s hungry “Wow… did you even remember to have lunch?”

“Yeah. I had like a… toast?”

Grant shakes his head and goes to the kitchen.

She stares at him. It feels weirdly… domestic. He knows where she keeps everything. He sets the table.

“Did you find him?” Grant asks as they sit down to eat.

She avoids his eyes “What are you going to do?”

“Skye…”

“Are you going to kill him?”

He sighs “John Garrett killed Hand and they covered it up. At least I need to know why!”

She leans closer “I think I know why” She grabs his wrist “It seems like she was involved with Shield… somehow. I’m sorry, Grant”

He looks down “No”

"It was probably an order from Madame Hydra. I know that Hand recruited you but she was doing something-“

“Something wrong? She was not like that. She was- she actually made me believe that I could be someone… do something good.”

“What are you talking about? You’re like the best agent-“

“Skye”

“I can’t keep helping you with this if you’re still going to keep me in the dark”

 It’s dangerous enough as it is”

“I don’t care about Garrett, or Hand I care- I need to know what happened. Why is she so important? All I’m seeing here is that she was a traitor”

“Don’t call her that” He says and clenches his jaw.

“I’m sorry”

“She was better than I ever was” He sighs but before she can push it he speaks again “just give me the file”

“Grant…”

“Give me the damn file!”

 

* * *

 

 

It’s not a Tuesday the next time she sees him.

He’s been shot and brutally beaten and he’s bleeding when he falls on her doorstep.

“Holy shit. Grant! Oh my God. What happened? Grant!!” She grabs his shirt but he’s too heavy. He’s barely moving. “Stay with me, okay? Just don’t die! Please, don’t die!” She touches his face and he tries to keep his eyes open.

Even when she runs to grab her laptop. He always keeps his eyes on her.

It’s hard to register what’s going on around him as he starts fading. But he always sees Skye. He hears sirens and feels her hand grabbing his, her touch on his face, her pleads.

In the end it feels like he’s only hearing her voice.

Until he wakes up again. The pain feels almost familiar at this point.

And Skye is still there, sitting right next to him in the hospital room. He recognizes it as a Hydra facility.

“Don’t ever do that again” She’s hugging her legs, staring at him and her voice is almost a sad, muffled whisper.

“I’m sorry”

“And I mean all of it”

“Skye… I had to”

“I know. Doesn’t make any better, or any less stupid”

Of course she knows.

What she says next is what really surprises him “I took care of it. I created a mission report and they’ll think that it went wrong”

“You didn’t have to do that”

“But I did it. He’s dead. You had your revenge, and I think that I deserve to know the real reason”

“The only thing that you need to know is that I’m not a good man and that you need to stay away from me”

“You were the one that came to me”

He looks at her. He wants to wipe the tears away from her face but he can’t really move “Because It’s a lot harder for me to stay away from you”

She waits for him but he doesn’t say anything else “If it makes it any easier, I’m gonna go first”

“What are you talking about?”

“I haven’t been completely honest with you” She pauses, trying to avoid his gaze “I didn’t tell you the reason why I was trying to hack into Hydra”

“You are trying to find your parents” He says.

She looks at him again “You knew?”

He shrugs “There’s nothing wrong with that. You just want to know the truth. Skye I- all I have on my hands is blood. Maybe you’re trying to find out who you are, but I already know who I am. You have no idea how it was before Hand… what kind of monster-“

 “What I know is that you’re good, and don’t care what you think because I can feel it. I’m not leaving until I hear the whole story” She finally reaches for his hand. “And even after that. I’m not going to leave”

 

* * *

 

 

PRESENT DAY

 

He finds Trip again in Mace’s office.

“I need to see it”

“What?”

“That place… where the portal is. I need to see it”

“There’s nothing there, Ward. I checked”

“I don’t care. You don’t have to take me there. There has to be something left!”

“It’s a pool of molten steel man, even if there was something left in this world of them, it got burned!”

“Well, I don’t care. Just tell me where it is. Even if it’s just to say goodbye. I need to go there”

Trip sighs, “I will take you”

“It’s not necessary. You’re needed here”

Trip places his hand on Grant’s shoulder “You’re my friend, and you need me too. I understand why you need to do this, okay?”

 

* * *

 

When they arrive there’s nothing but silence and the bodies of all the dead hydra agents they left behind.

Trip takes him up to the portal.

“Do you think that it’s still working?”

“Probably. But Skye had to open it up first with her powers. We would get burned to a toast before we get through it”

“Do you really believe it? That none of this is real?” Grant says, staring down to the burning pit.

“I guess”

“And aren’t you curious? To see what’s on the other side?”

“Hell yes I am, but I get the feeling that there’s nothing for me there”

Grant knows for sure that there’s nothing for him. The thing is that there’s nothing for him here either. It almost feels like it wouldn’t make a difference “I’m dead… on the other side”

“Damn”

“Could you just give me a minute?”

Trip looks down and then back at Grant “Please don’t think about doing anything stupid?”

“I’m ok” Grant says and then Trip pats his back before he leaves him.

“I’m gonna wait for you in the quinjet. Two minutes and then I'm coming back, bro”

Grant sits down with his legs dangling on the platform above the pit when he’s alone. He can’t stop staring down.

Whatever was left of her in this world is gone.

  

* * *

 

 

3 YEARS AGO

 

“You did what?”

“Look, I couldn’t just waltz in here with a half dead agent. I needed to tell them something”

“You created the fake reports!”

“Yeah but those didn’t explain where I knew you from!”

Grant sits on his bed with a frustrated sigh. He’s getting discharged today. “Do you even want to be a Hydra agent?”

“Sure. I need a job”

“A job that could you killed!”

“Anything can get you killed these days, Ward. Besides, you could be my S.O. I’m pretty sure you can turn me into another T1000 in no time”

He rolls his eyes “You want to search from the inside, don’t you?”

“Oh. Wow. That is a great idea. I really hadn’t thought about that, but now that you’re offering-“ She starts with a fake look of innocence on her face.

“I’m not offering. If anything I’m trying to tell you that it’s a really bad idea”

She smiles at him “Well. It’s too late for that. I’m your protégée now”

“I’m not even that old to have a protégée”

Skye actually laughs at that. "You don't have to be old to have one. But okay, then think about me as your partner. The Robin to your Batman"

Grant rolls his eyes at that "We're still a long way before you can even be a Robin"

 

* * *

 

Her first day on the field goes spectacularly wrong, which ends with both of them getting a speech from agent May.

“This is what happens when you take an inexperienced, untrained agent on the field. I expect you know this was your responsibility, agent Ward”

“It wasn’t Ward’s fault. I-“

“Did I give you permission to talk?”

Skye looks down and shakes her head. She can see Grant stopping himself from reaching for her hand.

“I know, agent May. It’s not going to happen again”

“Of course not” then he looks at Skye “and maybe you should start considering that this might not be a place where someone like you can fit in”

With that, she leaves them alone in the office.

It was pretty brutal, but she gets it. Because of her, dangerous Inhumans escaped.

One inhuman on the loose could cause another tragedy. Hundreds of people could die again because of this small mistake; one that she made because she was too weak.

It’s their job to prevent bad things from happening. Grant fits perfectly in here because he’s the hero type. He protects people. He risks his life without hesitation and makes the hard call when he has to.

If she can´t fit in here, maybe she can´t fit in his life. She’s just not like him. Grant is excellent at his job. He cares about people, he cares about protecting them. She came here only because she wanted to find her parents... and be a little closer to him after he almost died. all her motivations are always selfish and reckless.

He takes her hand.

“Let me take you home”

“Now?”

“Yeah. We’re finished here. You could use some rest”

She pulls her hand back “No. It was my fault”

“Nothing is going to happen. We’ll get them next time”

“We? Grant maybe I’m just not the right person for this job”

"What are you talking about?”

“Look at all the other agents. I’m nothing like them. I’m nothing like you”

“Yeah. Because you’re better than all of us. You have compassion. You’re… good”

“No. I’m weak, and stupid. It’s our responsibility to protect people. No matter what. The Inhumans killed my parents. I’m not gonna let that happen to anyone else”

He avoids her eyes. He told her that. It was much easier than just tell her the truth and put her at risk. The day she joined he switched the results in her DNA test, and when they found the truth about her parents it was obvious what had really happened to them. Her mother was an Inhuman, just like her; and she was on Hydra’s radar way before Hydra took over.

“I’m going to train harder. I swear I’m going to do better” She keeps going.

“It’s ok. We’ll do it” Grant smiles at her. He just can’t see her upset like this “Let’s go to your place ok?”

She nods.

When they are outside her building there’s this awkward silence between them. Grant has known her for 7 months now, and he knows about her insecurities. He knows that she would do anything to feel like she belongs somewhere. Hydra is that place for her now.

But he knows that they had been wrong about it the whole time. Now he knows why Victoria was with shield, and why they sent Garrett to kill her. He knows what they’re really doing to the Inhumans and he would die before he let’s something like that happen to Skye.

“Thank you”

“See you tomorrow?”

She smiles at him “I’m gonna be at the gym at 5am if you’ll still take me”

“Always”

She bites her lip. She always gets this weird feeling when she’s about to do something stupid. “Do you- do you want to like… drink something with me? Or… maybe you’re hungry? I mean it’s still early. We could go to my apartment and-“

“Skye…”

The thing is, when she does something stupid it usually backfires. She wasn’t really ready to handle Grant rejecting her. That’s why she never made a move before. She knew that he didn’t want her like _that_ and even less after today.

Now at least she doesn’t have to keep wondering.

Oh God. She needs to get out of the car. She clumsily tries to open the door but the lock is still on and she can’t.

Grant grabs her arm.

“Sorry” She tries to smile at him. She knows that it only makes it more awkward “That probably came out wrong”

“You are… having a rough day and you need to rest. You know, clear your head”

She swallows. He’s not letting her out of this conversation yet. He’s not letting go off her arm.

He just doesn’t know what to say. He has a million reasons why this could be a bad idea. Yet, she’s everything he wants.

“Let’s just reschedule, is that okay?” He finally says and he sees how she looks down, disappointed.

 

* * *

 

She usually handles communications and strategy. They quickly became kind of an unstoppable team. At least May got off her back after they started showing results.

And she’s getting good in the field as well, handling more combat ops, providing support to Grant. Because she would always have his back. She wouldn’t let anyone hurt him. After all, Grant is the only thing she has in this world.

So that’s why she didn’t hesitate. They were sent to capture, and she ended up killing 2 people.

Grant knows that the first kill is always rough.

“Made you some tea” He say from the kitchen of her new apartment in DC. She had not finished unpacking.

“I’m okay, really” She’s sitting on the couch just watching the news “Stop acting like my concerned mom”

“I’m just grateful. You saved my life today”

She smiles at him, but Grant knows that she’s just pretending for him. Her hands are still shaking slightly.

He brings the cup of tea and sets it on the coffee table “I’m here to talk about it”

“And I told you that I’m good. What was I supposed to do? Let them kill you?”

Grant sits next to her “You know that in this job, sometimes we have to make the tough call”

“Madame Hydra wanted them alive, though. I’m probably in trouble for that”

Grant shrugs “I would have done exactly the same thing for you” He says and Skye looks at him “I would never let anyone hurt you”

She swallows but tries teasing him. These… charged moments between them are never good for her sanity “That doesn’t sound like the Agent Ward that I know. Yes, sir. No, sir. I have my orders” She chuckles and Grant smiles.

She would hate him. If she knew that he lied to her about her parents, that he lied to her about her results. If she knew that he joined the resistance. Now she hates her own kind, and she would hate everything that he stands for. He really is not the Agent Ward that she met. She changed him even if she doesn’t know it. Now, he couldn’t care less about orders and Hydra… only about her.

“Maybe it’s time to-“

“Skye” He says, staring at his own knees because he can’t really handle her eyes right now. She can see right through him and he feels more vulnerable than ever. It almost feels like he’s about to make a big mistake but she can’t stop himself. “I- I really mean it. I wouldn’t care about any of those things now. Hydra and our missions and everything… it just seems so… insignificant in comparison”

She licks her lips and waits a moment for him to continue, but he doesn’t “In comparison to what?”

He finally looks at her again. He really needs her to understand this “To you”

She doesn’t even move a muscle. Were they always this close on her couch?

“I know that this is really bad timing. I’m sorry. But you need to know that it’s ok, and whatever you do… or need. I’m here. No matter what happens, okay?”

She pulls him by his shirt until her lips meet his.

It’s chaste and slow and they are just testing the waters here, but it feels like his heart might burst out of his chest. He knew he loved her the moment he saw her in that alley, when he took her back to her van instead of his car.

He knew that he loved her when he decided to protect her over anything.

When she places her hand on his face it makes him feel alive. The fact that she might want him too, even if it’s a really bad idea. Skye makes him feel like he can be better, that they can find a way to make it work.

He needs to touch her. He needs to tangle his fingers in her hair and feel her even closer. Skye parts her lips for him and Grant moans as he deepens the kiss. He can feel her smiling, leaning forward as she wraps her arms around his neck.

They only stop when they need to breath again. Skye looks down; she’s practically climbed over him so she moves back to her seat. He realizes that she’s sobbing.

“Skye? Everything okay? Did I… do something…?” Grant asks while he tries to catch his breath

“No” she says, covering her face with her hands as she leans forward “No… I just- this is really… I’m happy that it’s not just me, but… you were right, today was pretty intense and I- I don’t regret any of it”

Grant swallows. He doesn’t know if that’s good. He doesn’t know if he’s good for her; but this world is the way it is. The only thing he can do is be there for her. He wraps her arm around her and pulls her against his chest, kissing the top of her head “The only thing that matters is that we’re here. We can get through anything. Together”


	2. …I will come back to you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He regrets not telling her the truth. He regrets ruining everything. But maybe life can give him a second chance.

A FEW DAYS AGO

 

For almost three years he’s been the happiest man in the world. He never really knew what it was like to love someone like this.

She’s naked, in his arms and yawning against his chest after making love for hours. So yeah, his life is pretty great right now. In these moments he stops thinking about the Inhumans, and Shield, and Hydra. It’s just the two of them.

They could go away and disappear.

“Babe?” She says.

“We need to take the day off” He can feel that she’s smiling as she moves her hands up his chest.

She lifts her head to look at him “I have a surprise for you”

“Another surprise?” He teases and holds her even tighter against him.

“I was going to wait a little longer, but I can’t” She bites her lower lip.

He’s pretty tired after a long mission, but that’s exactly the kind of thing that drives him crazy. She’s stunning. With that messy hair and flushed cheeks and swollen lips. She looks good enough to eat… again.

He kisses her “Maybe it can wait a few minutes” Grant mutters against her lips but that just makes her laugh. She pushes him away softly.

“No. I really need to show you this” She turns around and takes a folder out of her nightstand, then she goes back to him with a big smile on her face.

Grant frowns “What’s that?”

“I… thought that maybe it was time…” She blushes as she shows him the folder “I applied for co-habitation and we got the approval”

Grant’s smile fades.

She notices it “Which… seemed like a good idea when I did it, why the encouraging long face?” She tenses.

He tries to smile “No. No… I mean, it’s great… it’s just… it’s a big step, don’t you think?”

Now she’s moving away from him, covering herself with her sheets and sitting against the headboard “It is, but we’ve been through all kinds of bad things, is this what scares you now?”

He sits too “I’m not scared. I love you, but we have something good here. Something amazing” He swallows he really doesn’t know what to say. “We don’t need to rush anything. We have our… own space for now and-“

“You stay here most of the time? We work together, we do most of our missions together? It wouldn’t really make much of a difference, Grant”

“I know” He tries to avoid her eyes “I’m sorry, I’m acting like an idiot here. I think- I think it’s a great idea, but I just need a little time”

She lets out a frustrated sigh and looks up, trying not to cry.

“Just to… organize what I need, and figure out the best way for this to work. Just a little time” He grabs her arm because he knows her. She probably just wants to bolt out of here. “I think it was a great idea, okay?”

It makes him feel miserable, because he knows how vulnerable she is when it comes to rejection; but he’s not rejecting her. He never would. “I love you, more than anything in this world” He grabs her chin to make her look at him “Maybe we should just talk about this in the morning. Clear our heads”

“I got everything pretty clear” She says.

“Skye…”

“No… it’s okay, really. Maybe it’s not the right time” She grabs the folder and tosses it to the floor “You’re right”

“Are we going to talk about it?” He insists.

“Yes. Let’s just go to sleep, okay?”

He leans forward to kiss her “I love you”

“I love you too” She accommodates herself back in the bed.

“We good?”

“We good” She smiles for him, although she’s still trying not to cry.

“Goodnight” He says. Kissing her forehead and wrapping his arm around her middle, like they always do.

He knows that it takes her a long time to fall sleep. It takes him even longer. It crushes him that he had to do this, but he’s still hiding a lot of things from her, and he can’t do it like this.

He wants a life with her... even a family. Maybe she’ll understand. Maybe it’s time to come clean so they can finally have all of that.

 

* * *

 

PRESENT DAY.

 

He stands up, still looking down. He’s crying.

Because it just hit him… it doesn’t matter if this world is fake. She’s no longer here. She disappeared.

She’s dead.

He knows that things went wrong in the other world, that he was bad. But he doesn’t really know what exactly happened between Daisy and that other version of him. He knew that she wasn’t Skye and that she didn’t love him; but he most definitely felt a connection, he felt how it hurt her… maybe not to see him, but to realize that things could have been different.

And he wants to hate her, because if she hadn’t come here Skye would be here.

But he can’t. He loves _her._

He feels his phone in his pocket.

And he freezes when he sees her name on the screen.

This can only be the universe finding new, crueler ways to make fun of his shitty luck.

“Hello?”

It’s her voice. Is it Skye? Is it Daisy?

He could still be hallucinating the whole thing.

“Grant? Where are you?”

It’s _her._ He just can’t find the strength in his voice.

“Skye?” It sounds like a plea. He’s begging for a miracle.

She pauses for a bit “Are you okay?”

He swallows and tries to speak past the knot in his throat this time “Yes. Yeah. It’s been a tough day I- I’m so glad to hear your voice. Skye. I love you. I’m sorry… I’m just happy to hear you”

“Okay…. Then… care to explain why I left for a minute to take a bath and now you’re gone and my apartment is totally trashed?”

“What?” He’s just having a hard time believing that it’s her.

“You were asleep, and- did you do this? How? And when? How is that I didn’t hear anything?”

“No. Wait. You were taking a bath? What’s the last thing that you remember?”

“Uhm… waking up? Getting in the tub?”

“Before that”

“Last night… we talked about-“

“Living together” Grant says “That’s when she appeared”

“She? Who’s she?”

“It rebooted back to that moment”

“Grant, what are you talking about?”

“The apartment? What happened to the apartment?”

“It’s a mess. Wait. Someone broke in. They breached the door”

“Just… don’t move okay? I’m going to explain everything when I get there? It wasn’t me. I love you. I’ll be there in like an hour. Just stay put”

“Okay…”

“Don’t call anyone. Don’t do anything. I’m on my way”

 

* * *

 

He finds her in her bedroom and it feels like he can breathe again. She’s there, everything exactly the same…. Well, except for the fact that Hydra must have searched the apartment because they made a big mess.

He looks down at the portrait with the picture of them on the floor. Her clothes (and some of his) are scattered all over the room.

She looks at him from her bed. She’s sitting there with her laptop and she looks confused and angry and scared.

How is she not aware of everything that happened? Does she remember anything? Does she even have her powers?

It’s not important. Nothing matters except the fact that she’s here now. He can’t even speak.

“What’s going on?”

He’s with her in a second, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her. It feels like a lifetime ago that he got to feel her lips. He kneels in front of her, still speechless, with his forehead against hers. They can’t just say that this is not real, her warmth, her breath, and her eyes that are brighter and more beautiful than anything that he has ever seen.

She knows that something is wrong, because instead of pushing the subject she grabs his hands.

Her touch _is_ real.

"It’s ok,” She says.

“It is now” He smiles.

“Whatever it is, just tell me” She says and then moves to make room for Grant to sit next to her.

“It’s going to be hard to explain. Probably even harder to believe”

“Well. According to the news I’m on Hydra’s most wanted list all of the sudden, so maybe start by that?”

He nods “I- just… one thing. I just need you to know that I love you, okay? No matter what. I would do anything to protect you. That’s the only thing that I’ve been doing for the last three years, and I need to tell you the whole truth”

 

* * *

 

“Oh God” She sighs, covering her face with her hands.

“I’m so sorry”

“You lied to me! You knew about my mother! You knew- that was literally the one thing that I wanted to know!”

“Skye” He pleads, trying to put his hand on her back but she moves away from him.

“Just… give me a minute”

“I just needed to figure out a way to keep you safe”

“And I’m like her. I’m one of them…” she continues, “I could hurt innocent people… I could hurt you”

“It’s not like that! You can do amazing things… all the Inhumans can. You need to come with me. Please”

She stands up “To your traitor base? Are you out of your mind?”

“They already think that you’re a traitor. Hydra is going to get you and they are going to kill you if they find you. If you’re back, that means that the doctor is back and they can strike back at us. They could be here any second”

“Strike back at us? Ward, what are you even talking about? This is what we have been fighting for years! I get it- I get that maybe not all of them are bad, but they’re still dangerous!”

“Inhumans didn’t kill your parents! It was Hydra! What they do to them after we deliver them is not training; it’s not helping them. They take them as lab rats. They torture them and then bury them in mass graves”

Now she’s speechless.

Her voice breaks when she speaks “For how long have you known this?”

“Just… a couple of years. I joined the resistance when I found out that you were an Inhuman”

“A couple of years?! And you were here, with me, all this time… letting me believe that- letting me work for them!”

He gets up and tries to get closer but she pushes him away.

“Fuck you, Ward!”

“Listen. I’m sorry. I thought that this was right, and when you joined… even after that I still thought that we were doing the right thing to make the world safe, but then I started getting the whole picture. If you see it, you’ll understand”

“It’s not about what Hydra is doing or not, Grant. I’m not an idiot. I knew that they weren’t having picnics with those Inhumans… but I always counted on you being honest with me”

“Well, I would do it again. If it means that you’re safe. And I never forgot about your search. I have more information about your parents. Maybe we can keep looking for your father now that we have your name. We can-” He stops when he gets a text. “Oh shit”

“Wow. What do you mean that we have my name?”

“Right” He stops. This is only starting and they really don’t have time for this “You said you remember going to take a bath that morning. It’s been days after that happened. That’s when she came in” He says. Skye just looks even more confused than before “It was you”

She rolls her eyes “Could you stop being this cryptic? What do you mean me?... You mentioned a woman on the phone”

“Yeah. _You_ ” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair “I told you that it was going to be hard to believe. Just try to keep your mind open”

“I’m still here, aren’t I?”

He sits down again and she sits next to him, keeping her distance. She gives him some time to think about what he’s going to say next, and also because she still needs to process all the things that she just heard.

“There’s another world. Think about as some parallel universe, or something”

“Grant…”

“Listen. We don’t have much time” He looks at her “We were… created after that place. I don’t understand how it works, but we’re like… characters in a video game and when they came in they took over their counterparts in here”

“Who?”

“You… and your shield team. A really annoying scientist, and a school teacher, the patriot... Apparently even the doctor and agent May were a part of that”

She’s looking at him as if he had just lost his mind. Part of him still wonders if that is what happened.

“It’s true. Everything is different over there. There’s no hydra. You’re some kind of superhero. I don’t know. Someone created this world to change things, and then you… the other one, came here to recue the rest of her team. That’s what I got from it anyway. She took over that morning. She came out of the bathroom… and it was _you_ ” Grant looks down “I immediately knew that there was something different” He chuckles “But she tried to play it cool and just ditched me to go and complete her mission. She didn’t have any of your memories. She had a completely different life there”

“So you’re saying… that we’re not real?” She sighs “None of this is real?”

“What do I know? For me it is. I don’t care what they say. They left and now it’s our world that is burning up in flames”

“So she was me. She looked like me…”

“Well it was your body. It was like… someone else was installed inside your brain, I don’t know. The same with the others”

“Okay. _Okay_ … how’s that I don’t remember any of that? How do you remember?”

“Because there wasn’t a version of me in that world”

“You don’t exist?”

“I’m dead”

“Oh… so we never met?”

“We did” He looks at her “She… met that world’s version of me. And she hated him”

Her gaze finally meets his “To be fair I kinda hate you too” She says.

“Do you believe any of this?”

“No. But I don’t think that you’re lying either. I don’t know. We’ve seen pretty messed up stuff but this-“

“I know. This has been the shittiest week that I’ve ever had in my life. I had to see friends die. I’ve been out there fighting… and I had to deal with the idea that I had lost you. She left using some kind of portal and then she disappeared. I though you were gone with her”

“How did I end up here?”

Grant just shrugs. He doesn’t want to use words like programming, or code or glitch or reboot. He hopes she understands, but he can’t really accept that this is any less real than whatever it’s out there. “I guess you came back to the last place where you were… _you_ ”

“What was her name?”

“Daisy”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!!! As promised, this one got a little better, but there's still one left. Thank you for your comments, I hope you enjoy the last part and please, keep posting your feedback.


	3. ... I will leave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s really only one thing... only one person to be with when the world is about to end.

“Are you okay?” He asks as he drives to the base. They sent a small team to check her apartment again. Nothing that they couldn’t handle. She has bruises on her knuckles now and a small cut on her lip.

But he’s the one that’s not okay. His hands are still shaking, and he keeps checking that she doesn’t want to jump out of the suv and leave him.

She’s just staring out of the window. People are outside, gathering, marching against Hydra.

“I don’t know, Grant. You just told me that I’m not real”

“I told you. I don’t care what they say. I know that it’s real… when I look at you. It’s all that I need”

She looks at him again “Maybe it’s their world that it’s not real”

“I said the same thing”

“I mean. The pain I’m feeling on my face is very real. If I punched, you right now you would definitely feel it”

Grant smiles and asks “You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?”

She nods “Yeah” but she reaches for his hand, which seems to reassure him “So this other me… you said that she hated you?”

“She seemed more hurt than anything. I don’t know exactly how it went down between them but it definitely didn’t end well”

“Did she kill y- him?”

He takes a moment “I don’t know. I don’t think so” He sighs “We got to talk… I think she got some closure on that matter”

Skye sighs. He knows what her next question is going to be.

“Do you- do you think that she found _them_? I mean she had a last name”

“She probably did”

“Did she seem happy?”

She didn’t. When Grant looked at her he would only see anger, pain, regret “She cared a lot about her team”

Skye can just see right through him. She knows that he’s avoiding the question “Her Shield team. Can you believe that? Me? Shield?” She scoffs at that.

He makes one last turn before stopping the car “We’re here”

 

* * *

 

 “Oh man! Thank God you’re here!” Trip says when she sees Grant again “We have a big problem” Then he sees Skye “Oh… hey, girl!” He takes a step closer, going for a hug, but she doesn’t move. She just looks confused “No more hugs, I see”

“Uhm-“ Grant cuts in “She doesn’t remember anything that happened with Daisy”

“Right. I’m Trip, then” He offers his hand “I’m happy to meet you again. I only wished we weren’t in the middle of the apocalypse”

She finally smiles at him “Skye. Wished I weren’t in the middle of a terrible mind fuck that I don’t totally understand”

“Yeah. I get it” He looks back at Grant “I wish I could say that this can wait”

“I’m okay” Skye says “I can wait”

Grant nods and kisses her forehead before leaving with Trip. The base is pretty much a refugee camp during war time. Injured civilians and agents being carried. Families, little kids, more agents trying to take care of them, people yelling orders.

He walks among them. Some of them are… different. Some of them are Inhumans.

Her first instinct is the feel threatened. That’s what she taught herself to think to make the job easier; but theses people are just… scared. They’re not hurting anyone. She also saw the videos. She saw what they were doing with those kids.

“Skye?”

She hears someone calling for her. It’s a really tall man.

“I thought you went through the portal” He says in a low voice “What happened?”

“Uhm…I don’t…”

“Oh” He says “You’re not… _her_ , am I right? You’re form here”

She nods “Are you from the other world?”

“No… well, that’s what they say but… I chose my own world”

Before she can say anything else there’s a little girl running towards them. Calling him dad. His eyes say everything.

“Hey…” He says as she hugs him

“Skye!” The girl smiles at her. “You came back! I thought I was not going to see you anymore”

She looks at him, then at the girl. “Hey… you. I was just on a mission”

“What about the others?”

“Uhm… still… on the mission. They’re okay” She kneels in front of her.

“Well, now that you’re back, we’re safer” The girl smiles at her “I’m happy that you’re back because I don’t want anything bad to happen to my dad”

She smiles at that “Don’t worry. Okay? It’ll be fine”

Then the girl hugs her. She gets distracted by a group of kids playing and looks up to her dad to get permission. He nods.

When she leaves the man speaks again “Thank you. I’m Mack by the way”

"And I’m a less cool version of the Skye you met. No powers. No heroic stories to tell. Only all the innocent people that I hunted down”

“You can’t be that bad. You’re here now”

She smiles “I don’t know what’s going on _here_ , but I totally get why anyone would want to stay in world with her”

He smiles, looking at his daughter play with the other kids “I know. They can say whatever they want. A world where you can love someone like that is more real than anything else”

 

* * *

 

“It’s just disappearing” Trip says “And it’s getting harder to communicate with the other bases. It’s not like they’re being attacked. Ward… I saw a pencil glitch out of existence”

Grant crosses his arms “Who’s doing this? Hydra?”

“I don’t think so. And honestly, I don’t know if there’s a way to fix it? It’s just starting, man”

Grant sighs “Or maybe we can wait. Maybe it’ll stop on its own”

“Ward…”

“I just got her back”

Trip nods behind him “You still have her” He pats Grant’s arm and leaves the room. Skye is standing on the doorframe.

She waits until Trip’s gone to talk “I think I understand” She walks closer “We’re really just a lot of code. I can understand that. But how’s that any different than whatever it’s out there? Right? I mean. Something… or someone created the world… _a world_. Maybe she has her finger on the kill switch too”

“She?”

Skye chuckles and grabs his hand “Look. I’ve been a pretty shitty person, and I got a lot of things wrong, but at least I got one thing right in this world. So… maybe, just for today let’s forget about the lies, and the things that we’ve done. Tomorrow we’ll see what happens”

He moves his free hand to her face to stroke her cheek softly. Most of the bad things she did, she did them because she was so desperate to fit in, when the place where she belonged was always with him; and with Grant she never had to put on an act.

He loved her just the way she was. He loved her when she she was a mess, and when she was terrible at her job. He loved her when she had nothing, and he loved her when she was… different. He risked his own life to protect that secret.

“I’m sorry. For everything” Grant says, moving his hands to her hips.

“It’s okay” She smiles and wraps her arms around his neck “We’re here. And I know that you were trying to protect me. I mean, my whole life I only thought about finding my family, and you were right there. You- I guess what I’m trying to say is that loving someone like this makes it real, even having a family. So… that was pretty good” Then she pulls him down for a kiss.

He holds her as close as he can. He tangles his fingers on her hair and kisses her until they’re both completely out of breath. Yes, he owes Mace and Hand, but they’re not here; and soon, they will be gone too.

“Let’s leave” He says, stroking her hair softly.

“What?” She asks, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Yeah. You and I… that’s the only thing that matters, the only thing that is real to me”

“And what about all these people?”

“Right now, what they need is the same thing as us. To be together”

She smiles at him and pulls him down for another kiss “Let’s go” She says against his lips.

 

* * *

 

He takes her to a point where they can see the city. A couple of buildings and landmarks have already disappeared.

They’re just sitting on the grass. Looking down, fingers interlocked.

“This feels quite peaceful for being the end of the world”

“We had a good run” Grant teases, and it actually makes her laugh.

“I’m glad that you found me, and didn’t arrest me”

“You were too pretty to be in jail. I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you”

“You mean after you shot me?”

He smiles and leans for a kiss “Yeah. And for the record. There’s nothing I want more than living with you”

She gives him another kiss, longer, more intense. She pushes him on his back until she’s over him “We can live here” She says when they finally separate.

That’s when they here a swooshing sound behind them. When they look, their quinjet is gone.

“I guess now we have to” He looks up at her. He’s just happy that he gets to see the way the sun shines against her skin one last time. She smiles at him but he knows that she’s scared.

“I wonder what she’s doing” She asks.

“She’ll be fine. She’s with her team” Grant says while he plays with her hair.

“Yeah, but she doesn’t have you. I wouldn’t want to live in a world without you”

He touches her face “I have an idea. Lay down”

They lay down facing each other, but keeping their distance “What are we doing?”

“We will never see a world were the other doesn’t exist” He smiles at her “Close your eyes”

“What? No” She shakes her head.

“It’s okay. Just hear my voice. Let’s just talk”

She doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to see him for the last time. But it’s probably worst to see him disappear in front of her eyes.

Grant takes her hand and kisses it. His deep, chocolate eyes staring into her soul as if he’s trying to memorize every detail about her. She does the same.

When she closes her eyes she can still remember everything about him.

He kisses her hand again. He remembers how it feels to touch her, to kiss her. Her eyes are closed now but he remembers the color, the shape, the way she would look at him with such fire and intensity from the very moment they met.

He sighs and closes his eyes, letting go of her hand.

“Grant?” She asks with her voice sounding like a desperate plea.

“I’m here”

“I don’t like this” She says and hears him chuckle “Are you doing it?”

“Yeah. But I can still tell that you’re the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever seen”

She feels the tears under her eyelids. She can’t help but reach for his fingers on the grass. Grant lets her touch him. He probably needs it too.

“I’m really sorry” He continues.

“It’s okay. We’ll talk about it tomorrow”

She hears him sob.

“Are you going to be mad at me?”

“Very mad. You won’t here the end of it. But you’ll make it up to me…” She tries to keep her voice from breaking “Hydra’s going to burn. We will make sure of that… you can also take me somewhere nice for dinner”

“I will cook for you”

He says, trying to swallow the horrible knot in his throat.

“Skye?...”

“I’m here” Her voice is a soft whimper “That sounds great”

“Now that your apartment is a mess we could get a biger place”

“There’s nothing wrong with my apartment. But I like how that _we_ sounds” They both laugh.

“Maybe somewhere very far away. Where no one can find us”

“We could get a van”

“A van. Sure” He says. He’s afraid to say for the last time, but he’s also afraid that he’ll never get to say it again “I love you, Skye”

But the last thing he feels are her fingers moving against his.

 

**\---**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... I did say it was gonna get worse, but at least this is closure and what happened in my mind. I can't believe they wasted yet another opportunity to do something amazing in the show. I mean, I wasn't hoping for Grant to be back, I didn't even want it at this point hahahah but it would have been nice if he had a happy ending and found his Skye so... that's why I had to write this. It's heartbreaking, but definitely better than what we got... I think? hahaha I just hope you liked it guys. Thanks for reading and don't forget to share your thoughts :) See you next time!

**Author's Note:**

> So how was that? A little angsty? in the next one it will get better (but then it'll get worse hahaha) there's only one flashback left (about her last night before Daisy took over) and then the story is only going to be in the present until it ends. But I promise closure. Just tell me what you think and if you liked this idea! I hope you enjoyed it and stay to suffer a little more. Like Aida would say... it's gonna be a good kind of pain :)


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